$70 Million Schools Bond Approved in San Ramon / Oakley voters OK new middle school

Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, April 15, 1998

1998-04-15 04:00:00 PDT SAN RAMON -- Voters in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District approved a $70 million bond measure in final returns last night.

In the Oakley Union Elementary School District, a $10 million bond measure to build a new middle school passed easily, according to final returns.

The San Ramon bond issue won handily. The outcome will determine whether the district, which has 19,548 students, can begin work on a long list of repairs and improvements, as well as additions of classrooms, multipurpose rooms and gymnasiums.

In 1995, voters twice rejected $82 million bond measures. The second attempt, in November 1995, fell just four votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Since then, the district's facilities have fallen further into disrepair, and overcrowding has worsened, district officials said.

To tip the scales in their favor this time around, district officials convened a citizens' committee -- which included the chief opponent of the 1995 bond measure -- to craft a bond measure they believed would be palatable to voters.

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However, opponents still rallied against the bond, saying the projects were overpriced and the district would have more money if it spent more carefully.

But expansion is needed to handle a wave of new students, San Ramon district officials and bond supporters said. Projections for the next five years show enrollment in the district growing by 761 students in elementary schools, 500 students in middle schools and 550 students in high schools.

The planned projects include the addition of six classrooms and a music room at Monte Vista High School, multipurpose rooms at five elementary schools, and one additional kindergarten classroom at each elementary school to allow the district to reduce class sizes.

Many of the existing schools also need to be upgraded to handle new technology and are in need of rehabilitation, including new roofs, better soundproofing and improved heating and ventilation systems.

A consultant said last year that $179 million is needed for the district's expansion and rehabilitation. The 20-year bond would cost homeowners about $32 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value starting in 2000.

In Oakley, homeowners will pay about $40 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value over 25 years for construction of a new middle school.

The district's middle school, O'Hara Park, was built for 800 students but now holds 1,300. And the district, which has about 4,200 students, expects to grow by about 100 students a year.